bpal reviews

This is the weekend for catching up on blog entries I guess. Quick reviews of all the BPAL I've tried recently:

Ace of Pentacles: "Black pine, patchouli, honeysuckle, oakmoss, almond and other soft earthen tones."

Pine, wood, and ... patchouli. ugh. as it dries the patchouli takes over. I tried hard to like it, but that awful patchouli. It looks like this isn稚 going to be my autumn scent.

Ace of Swords: No lab description.

Mostly sandalwood. When fresh it smells like the cologne one of my best friends in college wore. I liked his cologne, but because of the association it seems too manly for me. The drydown is good though. It faded down to a nice light sandalwood, with a touch of neroli. I'm not sure I get swords from this. That would be airy and intellectual (whatever that would smell like). But I like it.

Dana O'Shee: "Milk, honey and sweet grains."

In the bottle: Almond extract. On me, it smells almondy at first, but then settles down to a nice honey-milk. Much like Eden on drydown but lighter.

This one is another keeper. I'm surprised to like it so much. I didn't think I would like "foody" scents, and the reviewers who described it as smelling like oatmeal really put me off. But I got a freebie of this and it really doesn't smell like oatmeal. Just warm and sweet and comforting.

Eden: "This oil contains the innocence of the Garden, coupled with the Truth and Erudition found in the fruit of the Tree of Evil: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood."

When first applied this had a nasty, burned smell. I thought it was the 鍍oasted coconut� but forum reviews describe it as bitterness from fig leaf. In any case, after about 15 minutes the bad smell goes away and the fig and coconut become more prominent. Not Coppertone coconut but true fresh coconut. After about an hour it痴 honey and milk, with just a hint of fig. Still no almond or sandalwood. This scent is so complex. I really, really like it. It would be a 土owza� if the first few minutes weren稚 so unpleasant.

Endymion: "A sweet, wistful blend of d'Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk."

Too floral, too much pear. Straight to the swap pile.

Envy: "Green herbs slithering through mint, lime and lavender."

I thought this would be mainly mint, but actually the herbs dominate. The mint gives it a nice chill. No discernable lavender. It痴 nice for this time of year, and quite different from everything else I've been wearing.

Kumiho: "A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger."

I love this. Light and sharp and sexy. I thought it would be like Bath & Body Works� white tea and ginger shower gel, but that痴 more mellow and sweeter.

Lady Macbeth: "The essence of ambition, covetousness and manipulation: sweet Bordeaux wine, blood red currant, thyme and wild berries. "

Grape candy with a sickly overtone of blackberry. yuck.

Living Flame: "A luminescent red scent: breathless with passion, flickering with desire, and glowing with ardent and reverential love."

In the bottle it痴 dark and syrupy, but surprisingly faint on me. It痴 floral but not cloying. Hard to smell it, it痴 so light. Damn, it痴 going soapy. After a half hour it's pure soap. Too bad. I had high hopes for this one.

Maiden: "A gentle vision of purity, goodness and virtue: white tea, carnation and Damask Rose."

Way too floral. It must be the rose. I washed it off after a few minutes.

Sea of Glass: "Upon the Sea of Glass, glowing with the perfection of spiritual union and the radiance of true wisdom, rests the throne of God. A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light."

Beautiful, crisp, light. Reminds me of Dirty except doesn稚 fade as fast.

Now the bad news. Major allergic reaction. I started feeling sniffly immediately. After an hour my nose was running and eyes watering. I washed my wrists but it took another half hour before the constant sneezing stopped. Damn.

Sometimes I get sneezy for no reason, so this might be a coincidence. I知 going to give Sea of Glass one more try before relegating it to the swap pile. On a day when I don稚 have work to do.

Snake Oil: "Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla."

Smelled so strongly of patchouli in the bottle that I didn稚 even put it on. Swap pile!

The Dormouse: "A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony."

Floral & herbs dominate at first. The tea comes forward after about 1/2 hour. Unfortunately it stays too floral for my taste, and goes powdery to boot. I was so confident of this one that I bought a whole bottle unsniffed. Bummer.

Tulzscha: "A crystalline, cold green fire: six mints with white pepper and cucumber."

Mint, mint & more mint. I can't smell cucumber per se, but it must be what's mellowing the mint. I really like this.

Ultraviolet: "Electrifying, mechanized and chilly -- the scent of crushed blooms strewn on cold metal. Lush violet and neroli spiked hard with eucalyptus and a sliver of mint."

mint and eucalyptus. not strong but potent. chilly. really nice.

Drydown: the mint disappears, now it痴 eucalyptus and violet. I don稚 get any metallic but it is very cooling. not 吐resh� like Embalming Fluid, but cold. It's wonderful.

Xiuhtecuhtli: "Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms."

Incense. Dear god, incense. Swap pile for this one.